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No Educator Left Behind: Subject Testing

No Educator Left Behind is a series providing answers from the U.S.
Department of Education to questions about the federal No
Child Left Behind Act and how it will affect educators. If you have
a question about No Child Left Behind, send an e-mail to Ellen
Delisio, and we will submit your question to the Department of Education.

Question:

Currently, the No Child Left Behind Act requires that students' reading
and mathematics skills -- and, eventually, their science skills, as well
-- be tested annually. Down the road, will schools also be required to
test students in other subject areas?

U.S. Department of Education:

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act doesn't require annual statewide
testing in other subjects, but that doesn't mean that individual states
won't decide to also test students in history, geography, or writing skills.
Many states recognize how important it is to measure whether schools are
seeing student gains in every academic area, and to ensure that parents
aren't disappointed with their children's education. No Child Left Behind
focuses on reading and math because those subjects are key to the mastery
of all other subjects and to a child's future success.